+- Madison Motorsports (https://forum.mmsports.org)
+-- Forum: Technical (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Member's Projects (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=12)
+--- Thread: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 (/showthread.php?tid=11896)
Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Senor_Taylor - 05-02-2019
Hello all,
The door continues to revolve. This time the GTI is gone and a much older truck is in its place. First, let me say that I think the GTI was the best car-based decision I've made. I was in a bad place mentally (stressed), physically (back pain), and financially (old broken cars and no money) going into 2018 and the GTI really solved a lot of those problems. It was a great car and I think it's completely responsible for not only letting me get a leg up on life and really start enjoying a less stressful, more fun-filled life, but it also allowed me to finally dive into track work. The GTI was fun and reliable enough for me to finally do some DEs without much worry while I saved money and had time to get a track build going. Now its watch has ended and the track car is in full swing, so it's time for it to go. I'll miss it and I'll always appreciate what it allowed me to do, but this is the way it's got to be.
I've wanted an 2011+ Coyote F150 ever since riding in Jake's grey one at Summit point a few years ago. At the time, it was one of the nicest vehicles I had ever ridden in. I knew at that point I'd like to have one someday. My initial plan was to drive my E36 to the track and keep the interior in it for at least a year. That didn't happen. I don't know if I'm 100% committed to towing to every event due to cost reasons, but I determined I at least wanted the option after having my tire fiasco at VIR and then trying to get to the track at night in the rain on R Comps at the last Summit event. Thus began the truck search.
I already knew what I wanted. 11+, V8, Crew Cab, HIDs, 4x4, Bucket Seats, Back Up Camera, and minimal chrome. This equated to an FX4 package. For the next few weeks I scoured online listings and called just about every dealer from NC to PA asking about their trucks. Eventually I spoke to Jake and he got me hooked up with the Sales Manager at Battlefield Ford and that became my main base of operation. I test drove all manner of trucks ranging from base model work trucks all the way up to a 2017 Platinum, prices ranged from a 20,000 White FX4 that I almost would have bought if Jake wasn't there to 40,000 on one of the newer ones. However, I stuck to my guns, knew my budget, and knew that I wasn't going to make the same mistake I've made in the past and buy something crappy because I was impatient. I continued to make trips to dealers and check out their stuff, each time passing on one or two trucks. This was until my third trip to Battlefield ford. I woke up this Sunday morning and immediately checked to see what inventory had come in. I found a couple EcoBoosts in the trim I wanted and a 2015 Sport package with all the bells and whistles that caught my eye, but was out of my price range.
I showed up around noon and the Sales Manager ran out to meet me. He said there was a truck he knew I'd like and was perfect for me that was just traded in 15 minutes before I showed up, so they already had it pulled up for me. It was just about everything I wanted, but it was an ecoboost. However, I had an open mind and took it for a ride. All seemed well and I was on my way back, about to consider that truck strongly, and I decided to really goose it. Hesitation, stuttering, check engine light. I limped it back.
On to the next one. The red 2015 sport was just about out of my price range, but I was going to consider it due to it being the new aluminum body style and everything I wanted. I took it for a drive and it felt great, but for some reason, I didn't love it. Maybe it was the price, maybe the car had some hidden problem that tipped off my spidey senses, I'm not sure but I had some reservations. About a mile from the dealer on my way back, the tire went from 30 psi to 0 in the span of a traffic light cycle, so I pulled off the road and waited 30 minutes for the salesmen to find me. He picked me up in a base model work truck and I was delighted at how the cloth seats helped ease my back pain, whereas I had been quite uncomfortable in the slick leather before.
![[Image: uOwCaRF.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/uOwCaRF.jpg)
I came back to the dealer and asked the sales manager if there were any trucks that were slightly outside the parameters I provided, maybe even with cloth seats. He searched the system and found that the commercial Ford shop across the street had a white 2011 traded in that morning but he didn't have any information on it. At this point, the dealership was really busy, so I decided to enjoy the weather and just walk over to this other lot. After walking down the street and realizing I went to the wrong place, I found my way over to where the truck was. There on the lot sat a beautiful white, F150 Platinum. They tossed me the keys and I went to check it out. From the moment I got in and turned the key, I knew it was the one. This truck hadn't even been through the shop yet and it still felt better than every truck I'd driven so far. The seats didn't have any cheap leather conditioner on it yet and it hugged my back very well. The power running boards and AC vented seats were such a delight. The truck pulled, stopped, turned smoothly and confidently, and I even noticed a distinct rumble when getting hard on the gas. I pulled over to get a good view of the truck halfway through my drive and found that it had a roush intake on it. Someone clearly had a truck they were proud of.
I went back to the dealer and put a deposit down after finding out that they were asking a price that was near the low end of my budget (I don't know why) and asked when the truck may be ready for me to come back for. The swore to me it would be ready the next day by five even after I told them I was in no rush. They doubled down and said it would be ready no matter what. We talked numbers some more and they offered me more for my GTI than any other dealer had yet, well over what I owed on it. I asked if I could just leave the GTI there and take a loaner since I wasn't risking anything happening to it and they gave me an Audi A4 that smelled like ball sweat and cheap cologne, but it was nice enough. I requested PTO and planned to come back the next day.
Well, my bank and this dealer entered a battle to prove who was more incompetent. Granted they both were as nice as can be, over the next 2 days, I had to speak on the phone with both of them a ton of times. They couldn't figure out when the truck would be ready, who to send paperwork to, or what the right paperwork the other party wanted, etc. It was frustrating and tiring. I ended up being told I'd have to wait until Tuesday to come get it, which was fine except for how many times they told me it would be done Monday even though I said it didn't need to be. I ended up at the dealer on Tuesday and politely mentioned that the process was a bit more difficult than I had hoped and that I didn't appreciate being rushed through the process like they were trying to do. The GM of the dealer ended up getting an attitude with me and going on about how he didn't need to sell it to me, how my sale wouldn't make or break him, and how he could sell the truck for more money to someone else that day if he wanted to. He implied he was insulted that I would say such a thing after he so "generously spent $3000 on parts for the truck, answered all of my questions, and got everything ready for me quickly", none of which I asked for. At this point, I almost walked out and asked for my deposit back, but I figured I'd made it this far, I could suck it up for the perfect truck.
I suffered through another hour of people fumbling paperwork, taking forever, and generally being unhelpful, and I ended up driving home in my new truck by 4.
Details:
2011 Ford F150 Platinum
SuperCrew Cab, short bed
85,000 miles
Purchased, owned, and traded in locally
5.0 L coyote V8
4wd
Heated and cooled Leather front seats
Heated rear seats
back up camera
Power running boards
Backflip bed cover
sun roof
Roush intake
Navigation
Factory Tint
Sony sound system with Subwoofer under rear seats
etc, etc, basically every single option you could get on the truck in 2011. It drives very well and I've found nothing wrong with it. The paint seems fairly clean for its age and the bed has minimal wear. It has new brakes, good tires, and everything works as it should. I'm excited to have this and have lots of things I've needed a truck for that I plan to knock out soon. The payment is more than the GTI, but it'll depreciate was slower and I feel good about that. Waiting to see what the HOA says about keeping a trailer at my house, and that will determine how quickly things progress from here.
![[Image: qCZjwoa.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/qCZjwoa.jpg)
![[Image: fuv3Nz7.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/fuv3Nz7.jpg)
![[Image: Xskh0Dg.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/Xskh0Dg.jpg)
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Jake - 05-02-2019
Congrats! This one looks great from the couple pictures I've seen. The first white FX4 you were all gaga over was a turd by comparison.
Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - JPolen01 - 05-02-2019
Nice find. Should serve you well.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - ScottyB - 05-02-2019
great looking truck, seriously. that's going to give you years of good service. enjoy it!
(05-02-2019, 03:38 PM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: The GM of the dealer ended up getting an attitude with me
such a douche move. don't take your truck back there for service, ever, they don't deserve it.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Senor_Taylor - 05-12-2019
2 weeks of ownership almost down. Made it 6 days before my first check engine light. P2270, o2 sensor reading lean. I've been talking to someone at the dealer to see if they'd take a look at it considering I hadn't event driven 100 miles yet. I didn't have much faith anything would be worked out so I went ahead and cleared the code and checked vacuum hoses. So far the code hasn't come back, but the PCV is definitely whistling, so I'll probably replace that at some point.
Replaced the spark plugs and they seemed to be in very good condition, but I've been told to replace spark plugs earlier than the service interval to avoid coil failures. Also spent a tiny amount of time under the truck with a wire brush and some rust converter. No need to spend all of this money and not have the frame at least look nice. Nothing seemed too rusty except some some "add ons" that are definitely made of cheaper metal like the tow hitch and the motors for the power running boards.
![[Image: CpENRuL.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/CpENRuL.jpg)
Before:
![[Image: XDtdM5J.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/XDtdM5J.jpg)
![[Image: FusKWxQ.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/FusKWxQ.jpg)
After:
![[Image: 4DJLk0A.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/4DJLk0A.jpg)
![[Image: 3IipVj1.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/3IipVj1.jpg)
Also got some weathertech mats which required me to lead off with cutting a hole in it to fit the factory sub..
![[Image: lCOi1GS.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/lCOi1GS.jpg)
![[Image: TLUM9Yh.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/TLUM9Yh.jpg)
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - NTIman - 05-15-2019
"$3000 in parts"
Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Senor_Taylor - 05-28-2019
Truck towed to VIR without issue. Made a return trip to Lynchburg this weekend and bought a trailer on the way back. Managed to lose my license plate though. What's with F150s and these things falling off?
A trip to the beach this weekend and towing to Summit the next weekend. The miles are adding up quickly.
![[Image: 936e4598e0126f0847ed09579e39c473.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190528/936e4598e0126f0847ed09579e39c473.jpg)
![[Image: fd22d7939a09dae967bdae14bc653fc1.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190528/fd22d7939a09dae967bdae14bc653fc1.jpg)
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Senor_Taylor - 05-30-2019
So, I managed to lose a license plate on the way back from Richmond. Went to the DMV and they showed that the GTI is still registered to me and that the F150 doesn't show up, so it seems I've been driving around with the GTI tags on the truck? Seems like the dealer didn't file some paperwork somewhere for this to still not be correct after a month. Called them 2 days ago and spoke to the GM and had to follow up today after no call back. This dealer has been such a pain.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Jake - 05-30-2019
(05-30-2019, 10:38 AM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: So, I managed to lose a license plate on the way back from Richmond. Went to the DMV and they showed that the GTI is still registered to me and that the F150 doesn't show up, so it seems I've been driving around with the GTI tags on the truck? Seems like the dealer didn't file some paperwork somewhere for this to still not be correct after a month. Called them 2 days ago and spoke to the GM and had to follow up today after no call back. This dealer has been such a pain.
It took a while to get "real" tags on my Denali (about six weeks) too. I think what happens is some smaller dealers don't submit to DMV but once a month, so you don't get everything updated until after that. It's a giant pain and you have to keep hounding them.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Scott - 05-31-2019
(05-30-2019, 10:38 AM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: So, I managed to lose a license plate on the way back from Richmond. Went to the DMV and they showed that the GTI is still registered to me and that the F150 doesn't show up, so it seems I've been driving around with the GTI tags on the truck? Seems like the dealer didn't file some paperwork somewhere for this to still not be correct after a month. Called them 2 days ago and spoke to the GM and had to follow up today after no call back. This dealer has been such a pain.
Went through this recently with my wife's RDX. The dealership has 30 days to submit the paperwork to the DMV
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - JPolen01 - 05-31-2019
(05-31-2019, 10:38 AM)Scott Wrote:(05-30-2019, 10:38 AM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: So, I managed to lose a license plate on the way back from Richmond. Went to the DMV and they showed that the GTI is still registered to me and that the F150 doesn't show up, so it seems I've been driving around with the GTI tags on the truck? Seems like the dealer didn't file some paperwork somewhere for this to still not be correct after a month. Called them 2 days ago and spoke to the GM and had to follow up today after no call back. This dealer has been such a pain.
Went through this recently with my wife's RDX. The dealership has 30 days to submit the paperwork to the DMV
Really? So what happens if Taylor is driving his truck with tags registered to a GTI and a cop runs the plates in traffic? Seems like it could cause quite a problem.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Scott - 05-31-2019
(05-31-2019, 11:12 AM)JPolen01 Wrote:(05-31-2019, 10:38 AM)Scott Wrote:(05-30-2019, 10:38 AM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: So, I managed to lose a license plate on the way back from Richmond. Went to the DMV and they showed that the GTI is still registered to me and that the F150 doesn't show up, so it seems I've been driving around with the GTI tags on the truck? Seems like the dealer didn't file some paperwork somewhere for this to still not be correct after a month. Called them 2 days ago and spoke to the GM and had to follow up today after no call back. This dealer has been such a pain.
Went through this recently with my wife's RDX. The dealership has 30 days to submit the paperwork to the DMV
Really? So what happens if Taylor is driving his truck with tags registered to a GTI and a cop runs the plates in traffic? Seems like it could cause quite a problem.
Yes really (at least what I was told by the DMV after standing in line for over an hour).
If you are pulled, you show your registration that was received when you purchased the truck. Not convenient, but realistically probably not a big deal.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Senor_Taylor - 06-10-2019
Still no tags. Another weekend, another trip to the track with the Green #22 in tow. I absolutely love it. The truck sits much more level with the new trailer since I can actually balance the load properly. Electric brakes are very nice. The covered bed, large cargo space in the rear, and various other amenities made this weekend really pleasant. I really love being able keep everything stored away in the bed of the truck. Pull the car off the trailer, pop up the tent, and I'm ready to drive. Life is good.
I have no idea how anyone tows with anything less than this. You can definitely feel it back there and while it makes it up large grades just fine, it did take a downshift to 3 to accelerate up some hills on route 7.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Kaan - 06-10-2019
technically, it is claimed that the Tundra is a lesser truck. It tows just fine. Come join me for a pull up Afton Mountain on the way to VIR.
It was good to see you out there! Congrats on group 3... who knew there were tests to pass now!?!?
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Jake - 06-10-2019
(06-10-2019, 10:22 AM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: Still no tags. Another weekend, another trip to the track with the Green #22 in tow. I absolutely love it. The truck sits much more level with the new trailer since I can actually balance the load properly. Electric brakes are very nice. The covered bed, large cargo space in the rear, and various other amenities made this weekend really pleasant. I really love being able keep everything stored away in the bed of the truck. Pull the car off the trailer, pop up the tent, and I'm ready to drive. Life is good.
I have no idea how anyone tows with anything less than this. You can definitely feel it back there and while it makes it up large grades just fine, it did take a downshift to 3 to accelerate up some hills on route 7.
Isn't it nice to have the #trailerlife going on? Congrats!
The hills on 7 are pretty big. Heading to and from Pitt Race is worse. Remember, you have a big naturally-aspirated V8 that needs to rev to make its peak power and torque. Let it sit in 3rd with your foot in the carpet and it'll happily pull you up the hill at 65-70, albeit with a lot of noise. My 10-speed picks a different gear but with the same result. So did the Tundra. The EcoBoost F150 would do it with a bit less frenzy (as would my SC Range Rover) because of the boost.
Your trailer would be fine behind a Grand Cherokee, Q7, or Range Rover. They are stable and have the power/brakes, but you get a lot more noise transmitted from the hitch because it's a unibody.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - ScottyB - 06-11-2019
Jake Wrote:Remember, you have a big naturally-aspirated V8 that needs to rev to make its peak power and torque. Let it sit in 3rd with your foot in the carpet and it'll happily pull you up the hill at 65-70, albeit with a lot of noise. My 10-speed picks a different gear but with the same result.
do you pull with 87 in the tank? does it handle those grades OK in the summer heat or can you really feel it pulling timing out?
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Jake - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 11:24 AM)ScottyB Wrote:Jake Wrote:Remember, you have a big naturally-aspirated V8 that needs to rev to make its peak power and torque. Let it sit in 3rd with your foot in the carpet and it'll happily pull you up the hill at 65-70, albeit with a lot of noise. My 10-speed picks a different gear but with the same result.
do you pull with 87 in the tank? does it handle those grades OK in the summer heat or can you really feel it pulling timing out?
Yep, 87 octane. Keep your foot matted and it'll pick from the bag o' gears and hold roughly 4500-5000 rpm. No issues with doing that, with the AC blasting and cooled seat turned on.
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - ScottyB - 06-11-2019
that's pretty wild. modern ECU's/tech makes it just too easy.
....as i go back out to the garage to check the timing on the Xterra to see if i need to rotate the dizzy back so it won't ping in hot weather...
Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - Senor_Taylor - 06-11-2019
Your Xterra has a distributor?!?!?!
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
RE: Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150 - .RJ - 06-12-2019
(06-11-2019, 09:58 PM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: Your Xterra has a distributor?!?!?!
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
at least it doesnt have points?